Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Pitchers & catchers head home

So ends the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers, a day filled with hope and optimism around the big leagues. The Yankees were out in the sunshine at George M. Steinbrenner Field early, with CC Sabathia drawing the oohs and aahs out in the bullpen six-pack from the crowd of fans that ventured out to the ballpark to catch a glimpse.

Sabathia threw only fastballs and changeups to Jorge Posada, who continued his own progression with about 90 more tosses on the field. All systems are go so far for both Posada and Mariano Rivera, two members of the Yankees’ “old-guard” that must stay healthy for the club to reach its full potential.

Hideki Matsui took live batting practice for the first time since his left knee surgery and reported that he felt good, despite being a little rusty since the last time.

Joe Girardi said the Yankees have talked a little bit about their rotation and keeping guys separated, so not to create the same look for teams in a series. Girardi wants to keep the lefties, Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, apart, as he does with fireballing righties A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain. Chien-Ming Wang can go about anywhere with his sinker.

Surprise! There wasn’t a whole lot of anything about Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez here in camp today — no one even asked an A-Rod question of Girardi. That won’t last for long, so enjoy it while it’s here. Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone out there.

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3 Comments

HI
What time did the workout begin and end? We’re planning on visiting in the next couple of days and wanted to get an idea of the timeframe, and if you think Sunday will be any different than other days.
Thanks

I wonder how it must feel to see those multi-millionaire athletes do their thing out there. If I were in attendance, I’d soak it up like a sponge, though there are some guys who don’t know what the heck they’re doing any way ( like Bruney admitted he was like a few years back. )

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